Fighting Back
Thorax sighed as he followed Pharynx down the corridor, his hooves aching. He stretched out his back in an arch, feeling the pop of his bones. His wings buzzed tiredly as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“-other than your failure to dodge those sticks I threw, I say that you are quickly catching on.”
Thorax nodded, trudging after his older brother. His lower jaw split in half as he let out a yawn, licking his dry lips.
“You....you just had a three-hour nap not that long ago,” Pharynx cocked an eyebrow. “How are you tired?”
“Hm,” the younger nymph rubbed his eyes, making clicking noises. “Gee, I don’t know. It’s not like someone was throwing knives at me today.”
“One,” Pharynx’s corrected. “It was one knife.”
Thorax returned the gaze, his eye twitched. “You still threw a knife at me!”
“So? It’s not like an actively aimed for your head.”
“Felt like it.”
“Oh shush, it was going to hit the wall no matter if you moved or not.”
“I- was- that isn’t...I...” Thorax tripped over his words, completely flabbergasted. “Ugh, you win this one.”
The older nymph smirked. “I always win.”
“Just you wait!” Thorax poked at Pharynx’s shoulder, though not as hard as Pharynx did to him. “I’ll be right one day and you’ll have to admit defeat!”
Pharynx let out a giggle, rolling his eyes. The black changeling began to lag as he struggled with exhaustion. His ears and crest began to sag.
“I think I’m gonna sleep. No more of today...”
Thorax ignored Pharynx’s disapproving frown as he stretching his wings out. With a satisfying crack of his joints, Thorax climbs the walls of the nursery hive. With much effort, he dragged himself into the shared cave.
The hole in the side of the wall was much quieter than the outside world, only the faint hissing of other nymphs could be heard. The heat stored within the walls lulled the young nymph deeper into his exhaustion. With a quick click of his jaw, he curled into his nest.
Closing his eyes, his tense muscles relaxed as he drifted to sleep.
“Thorax, wake up.”
His ears twitched, peeling back one lid. Cyan eyes met with purple ones, and Thorax frowned.
“What time is it?” He tiredly questioned, pushing himself to his hooves. Pharynx lifted himself up as the younger nymph yawned.
“Well past noon, c’mon,” Pharynx’s urged, stamping a hole-ridden hoof on the floor, “Training with Instructor Halter, remember?”
Thorax whined. “Again? We did that only a few days ago!”
His older broodmate cocked an eyebrow, his frown deepening. “Am I in charge of scheduling? No, I’m not. Blame the Instructors and the Queen, but don’t complain to me.”
Sighing, Thorax clicked his hooves as he followed Pharynx. He shook his head, his energy diminishing. Instructor Halter’s class was going to be torturous and he was going to die.
“You aren’t going to die.”
Thorax made a surprised squeak, looking at his broodmate. “..did I say that out loud?”
Pharynx hummed in ‘yes, now please shut up.’
The younger changeling coughed awkwardly, feeling the flood of heat at his cheeks. His face had turned a deep red-black, hardly noticeable against his already dark chitin.
Pharynx sighed, his eyes focused on his younger broodmate. “This is Instructor Halter’s final class before we move onto training drills. I suggest you focus a little more unless you want to stay in his class for another year.”
Thorax shuttered. “Noted.”
They continued their trek, all while Thorax was busy freaking out.
Cocoon slime, how will I get out of this one...
Surprise, surprise...Pharynx passed with flying colors.
Not that Thorax was even there to witness it, but Pharynx was one of the top-tier fighters within the rabble of nymphs. It would be a complete surprise and a lack of logic if Pharynx had failed.
“So...mind telling me what your test was?” Thorax prodded for details. If he was going to prepare, he needed to know what he was up against.
“Just you sparing against Instructor Halter. Honestly, it was a lot easier than I expected, but I guess he is getting up there in age...”
“Cocoon slime,” Thorax cursed, kicking pebbles against the wall. He watched another nymph get called into the next room. His wings twitched nervously, and Thorax began to vibrate under the pressure. “I’m going to fail, I’m going to fail, I’m going to fail, I’m going fail-“
Pharynx quickly shushed his broodmate with one hoof. “If you’re that nervous, I can come to watch you do the test.”
“Really? You can do that?”
“Eh. As long as I don’t intervene it should be fine.”
Thorax debated whether his trained-to-fight brother would either help him with the test or make him lose all self-confidence. The debate didn’t last long, as he heard the ever-dreaded voice of Instructor Halter ring from the next room.
“Thorax! Get your carapace in here, now!”
Jumping, Thorax got to his hooves. Quickly, he turned to his brother, his eyes wide with terror. “Please come with me.”
This got Pharynx to roll his eyes, though he did smile teasingly. Good, so Pharynx isn’t going to belittle me for being a coward afterwards...I hope.
The black changeling quietly pushed the vines out of the way of the entrance. Stepping into the long corridor was a whole new experience. There no sign of anyone inside, Instructor Halter must’ve gone ahead without them.
As the pair trotted further into the tunnel, Thorax studied the walls around him. Unlike the rest of the hive, the walls didn’t give off any sort of heat. It was cold and barren, aside from the splashes of dull red that splatter the surface as they went further down.
It was...oddly quiet. No indication that anyone had been down here for centuries, not even the sound of draft flowing within the ventilations!
Thorax but his lip, uneasy.
They ended in an open room, much smaller than anything he was used to. The red pigmentations were more prominent here, mostly on the floor and up against the wall.
Standing in the center of the room, Instructor Halter stood tall. His old chitin was dulled, his eyes still narrowed. Thorax fought back a nervous squeak as he padded towards the drone, his head down.
“What are you doin’ here?” He inquired towards Pharynx. The older nymph shrugged, leaning against the green wall.
“Just watching.”
“Hmph,” the instructor titled his head up, his ocean eyes glaring at the pair of brothers. Turning back the smaller nymph, his frown deepened. “Your test is to best me in a spar. You’ll probably fail, but we’ll see.”
Thorax gulped, trembling. Taking in a deep breath, he steadied himself into a crouch.
Halter growled. “Make the first move.”
Oh, Thorax was physically trying to stop his heart from jumping into his throat. With quick hooves, Thorax dashed to his left, trying to put himself behind the older drone.
Halter rolled his eyes, swiveling in place to face Thorax head-on. The old changeling leaped for the nymph, and Thorax yelped. Instinctively, he covered his head with his hooves and ducked.
He heard a loud thud behind him. Twitching, he opened his eyes. His instructor had overshot the distance and crashed into the floor.
It would have been funny if Thorax wasn’t so terrified.
Instead, the nymph disappeared into a flash of cyan flame, scuttling away on six legs. This ladybug wanted to get out of here and get out of here now.
Spoilers!
Not gonna happen.
Halter growled as he shook himself, his eyes pinned on Thorax’s ladybug form. The drone smirked. “Hiding, are we? A true warrior doesn’t run from a battle.”
Again, Halter bunched his muscles and leaped towards the disguised ladybug. The black nymph quickly dropped it, not wanting to be squashed.
It resulted in a tackle and pin, with Thorax held to the ground by the neck. A sickening crack sounded from the back of his carapace. He gasped in terror and pain, trying his best to wriggle out of the situation. The instructor’s eyes narrowed into slits, baring his teeth.
“As I expected,” he hissed, but his face was almost smug. Slowly, he retreated from the position, letting Thorax get up. “You’ve failed.”
Thorax let out a lower whimper, his ear flattened. His wings were bent unnaturally towards the left, and his carapace had a crack in the shape of a spiderweb.
Sharp hoof steps came galloping towards him, and Pharynx had an utmost concerned facial expression that Thorax had ever seen him make. He didn’t even know Pharynx had the muscles to make such a face.
The older nymph inspected his wounds, eyes narrowed specifically at the broken wings. Thorax didn’t mind, he was more worried about the parchment paper that Halter had pulled out of nowhere.
The Instructor seemed to be writing something in charcoal, most likely how much of a failure Thorax had turned out to be. He stretched his wings with a wince, looking at the floor.
“I’m not surprised, you were always an annoying gnat. It’s fantastic to finally get rid of you,” Thorax pricked his ears as he heard Halter sneer. He looked up, confusion plastered on his face.
Then he felt his blood drain when Instructor Halter pulled out a spear. A long, sharp spear that had dried blood splattered on its tip and handle. A rare, toothy smile stretched across his face.
“The rest of us will cherish the moment this spear has plunged in your heart.”
The wind rushed past Thorax’s side as Pharynx dashed in front of him. The older nymph let out a hiss, standing between him, Halter, and the blade.
The adult drone growled from the back of his throat, a displeased look taking hold of his face. He waved the bloody spear around before pointing it at the nymph's forehead. “Step aside, grub. This is to better the hive’s army.”
Pharynx didn’t budge. He stayed him his protective stance, shielding Thorax from the spear. “I will not let harm come towards him,” he hissed in a dangerously low tone.
“You’ve let your brother make you weak,” Halter huffed. “It’s a shame really, you would have became a great solider.”
Thorax gasped, tugging at his older brother’s wing with his incisors. Please don’t do this! He begged at the back of his mind, but Pharynx pushed the pitiful attempt back, eyes locking with their Instructor’s.
The discolored changeling disappeared into a green flame, leaving behind the giant moth-spider. Pharynx buzzed his wings, hurling himself towards the drone with a shriek.
Halter let out a growl as he was thrown off balance, dropping the spear. The moth-spider grabbed the Instructor by the neck and tossed him towards the wall. With another banshee scream, Pharynx pinned the Instructor with two of his six appendages.
Thorax winced when he heard a sickening crunch of chitin and bones, and started to shiver when Halter let out a earsplitting howl. He opened one of his compound eyes into slits, morbidly curious about what was going on.
Pharynx has sunken his teeth into Instructor Halter’s neck, splitting the chitin and bones while doing so. The old drone’s mouth gaped as he gasped for air, then clenched his teeth in rage.
The young nymph watched in horror as Halter encased the spear with his magic. Thorax let out a screech.
“Pharynx watch out!”
It was too late.
Halter had summoned enough energy to plunge the spear right through Pharynx’s neck. The disguised changeling let out a roar, shaking the room around him. With a heavy breath, the disguise tore away, and Pharynx coughed.
The spear stabbed straight through the back of his neck, piercing through his throat. He let out an even louder screech as Halter dragged the blade out, coughing out thick clots of blood.
“Now that that’s over with,” Halter coughed, rubbing his bloody neck, “Thorax you better get over here.”
The nymph was glued to the floor, eyes wide. Biting his lip, he steadily got to his hooves, slowly pacing towards the older drone.
Just outside his realm of reach, Thorax stopped. He ignored the pain of his broken wings, he ignored Halter’s annoyed voice tell him to step closer, he ignored all of it!
Pharynx was still gasping, sputtering out blood and changeling mucus. His tattered wings were scrunched against his carapace, swaying slightly as he tried to stop the bleeding.
“You are one of the most unreliable, useless, and cowardly changelings I have ever met, and you dragged your brother down with you. He could have had been a commander, yet here he is, dying from blood loss...and you’ll be joining-“
He couldn’t take it anymore.
Taking a deep breath, he let out an ear-splitting, glass-shattering, will-blow-up-your-eardrum screech, dissipating into cyan flames. Left behind was a long, serpentine creature with long fangs and bat-like wings. His grey crest had grown into a large head fin, sailing down his back. At the end was a spiked tail, thrashing against the hard floor.
He lunged for the older drone, he curled his snake-like body around his neck. He squeezed his python body tight, causing Halter to gasp. The drone screamed curses as he tried to wrestle Thorax off, to no avail.
He tried to do the same thing with Pharynx and stab the spear into Thorax’s throat, but the serpentine flung himself off momentarily, causing Halter to stab himself in the shoulder.
The drone let out a howl of frustration. His neck was bleeding from the gashes and starting to bruise from the constricting. The spear was incased with green magic as Halter waved it around threateningly.
Thorax was too angry to care.
Springing off of the floor, he racked his Instructor’s face with makeshift wings. His hidden translucent wings winced at the impact, but the nymph-now-serpentine pushed past the pain.
Unhinging his jaw, Thorax bit into Instructor Halter’s shoulder. His fangs dug deep into his flesh, and Thorax felt the venom pumping out.
Finally, Instructor Halter ripped Thorax away with a tug. Thorax, still disguised, hissed as acid changeling magic held him in the air. The old drone panted as blood dripped out of his neck and shoulder, staining the floor with its crimson hue.
“...you are a pain...” Halter commented, wincing as the venom spread. The chitin around it began to blacken, tentacles of dying flesh began to grow from the two bite marks. “You only become competent when you are disobeying authority, huh?”
The serpent hissed, his jaw clicking. His eyes narrowed. With a distorted voice, he muttered loud enough for the other changeling to hear. “...yeah, and do I care?”
His tail was free from the magic, still whipping and lashing. With careful consideration, Thorax manages to land one final blow to the old drone’s forehead. The spikes lodged themself into chitin, and the disguised serpent threw the changeling against the wall.
The magic released him from its grasp, and Thorax fell towards the ground. The young changeling gasped, finally able to regain control his emotions. Reverting about to his normal form, he stretched his broken wings, stopping when he felt them crack.
Shaking his head, he peered across the room. Blood splattered along the walls and floor, weeping into the crevices.
Realizing what he had done, he glanced with panic towards his instructor. Halter laid across the floor, his curled against the wall. He was so quiet and still that Thorax feared he had killed him, but sighed he heard Halter breathe his shaky breaths.
His relief didn’t last long, as a soft thud sounded from just behind him.
“Pharynx!”
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Nice to see Thorax finally snap. That Halter bitch deserved it.
Yes! Thorax finally stood up against Halter, that guy deserved it! But is Pharynx okay?! He can't be gone, not after he was finally warming up to showing emotion towards Thorax...
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Okay...
Also added to my read list!
Holy mackerel that instructor was really crazy so if you fail his class he will kill you dang that is something I really don't like to fail but pharynx would never let that happen so he fought with the instructor but unfortunately he got hurt in the process but it took a lot thorax seen all this and he became angry and finally finding his true strength and defeating the older changeling but right now he's worried about pharynx he's hurt 😥
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i actually imagined this with you talking EXTREMELY fast
Foreshadowing his future.